The Philosophies of Israel Education

Abstract

This issue of the Journal of Jewish Education is devoted to a conversation about the philosophies that do, and might, undergird the scholarship and practices of Israel education. Readers will find in its pages disagreements about Israel, the role it does and ought to play in Diaspora Jewish life, and how educators ought (and ought not) frame educational experiences relating to Israel for Diaspora Jewish learners. The conversation is anchored around a lede article, “Israel Education: A Philosophical Analysis,” co-authored by Benji Davis and Hanan Alexander. In this conversation-starter, Davis and Alexander undertake two tasks. First, the authors create a taxonomy of the current philosophical discourse of the field. Their taxonomy identifies and names seven distinct schools of thought in the current scholarship on Israel education: (1) The Understanding Modern Israel approach highlights the study of Israeli history, politics, and society, and its proponents frame critical analysis of the past as an essential component of fostering collective belonging in the present. (2) The Jewish Peoplehood conception situates teaching and learning about Israel as part of a broader process of finding personal meaning in being a member of the collective Jewish people. (3) The Learner-Centered Israel education approach emphasizes the personal development of the learner and the learner’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding Israel. (4) Jewish Visions for a Better World Israel education centers issues of peace and justice, seeking to engender commitment to Israel by situating it as a laboratory for implementing Jewish visions for a more just and peaceful world. (5) Supporters of a Jewish Civic Education approach to Israel education frame engaging with Israeli civic and/or political issues as a way of helping learners be “active Jewish citizens.” (6) Social Activism Israel education focuses on how and why Jews outside of Israel can respond to – and even impact – life in Israel, highlighting the importance of social action over connection. The seventh school of thought, Mature Zionism, Davis and Alexander themselves embrace. Their conception of “mature Zionism” is committed to “juxtaposing the ethical liberal identity of American Jewish identity with the liberal national identity of Israeli Jews” as a way of helping learners “understand modern Israel in its various forms as it contrasts with the framework that organizes their own [Diaspora] Jewish lives.” Davis and Alexander frame “mature Zionism” as an antidote to what they call “the philosophical weakness” of both “the liberal-religious identity prominent in Jewish life outside of Israel” and also the six prominent schools of thought in Israel education that JOURNAL OF JEWISH EDUCATION 2023, VOL. 89, NO. 1, 1–5 https://doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2023.2174738